Protective chest equipment has previously been made of a suit in which many pockets are filled with inserted protective equipment such as foam padding, synthetic material or rigid synthetic material elements. An example of such protective equipment for a hockey goalie is available from Vaughn Custom Sports, Model No. VP 1050 Chest Protector.
Variations for the arm portions of goalie protective equipment have included a series of plastic or fiberglass scales which are attached to each other at their ends about a fixed pivot to provide a certain degree of flexibility, however, always in the same plane during bending of an elbow. The disadvantage of this arrangement is that the arm protection portion is a rather rigid type of protection, heavy, and failing to provide ease of flexibility and movement that is oftentimes required by a hockey goalie, such as rotation, extension and contraction of an arm. A similar type of arrangement for protective pants for a hockey player is disclosed in Canadian Industrial Design No. 47333.